Topic 1 – Reflection

The first stage of this five-step journey is almost over. How were these first three weeks that enhanced my usual online presence? It was mostly about being active again on WordPress and exploring some of the tools suggested by the #UOSM2008 team.

Our community explained the concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” in an appealing way, by referring to interesting writings and personal experiences. In my first post, I tried to summarize in a brief way the short history of Prensky’s and White’s studies. It was nice to be able to use a PowToon video for the first time after a while, being reminded about this tool in the first drop-in session. Furthermore, I included the study of Kevin Kelly, by selecting two of the recorded answers which seemed the most interesting to me. Both were submitted by people in their 30s with similar professions. I was glad to discover that somebody else appreciated this study, by reading Jordan’s comment on the post.

My knowledge on Topic 1 was also improved by reading other people’s articles. Thus, by discussing with Jordan in the comments section of his post, I consider that we found the following potential research question that can be further explored: ‘Is the digital status of people is influenced by certain events or habits?’. I have also found Mary’s post interesting, as it discussed the matters of online privacy and security.

All in all, at the end of the first few weeks of ‘Living and Working on the Web’, I am extremely grateful to be a part of this community. On one hand, we benefit from the support of a team of tutors that recommend us tools that are valuable for ‘online residents’. On the other hand, reading the posts of my peers is an extremely powerful tool to improve my knowledge on the studied topics and I am really looking forward for what’s to come.